reprinted  from 


“The  Forum” 


Lia;AH/ 


FOR  JANUARY,  1902 


UNIVERSITY  of  ILLINOIS. 


THE  PLACE  OF  GEOGRAPHY  IN  THE  ELEMENTARY 

SCHOOLS. 

The  branches  of  study  pursued  in  the  elementary  schools  are  chosen 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  two  useful  and  reasonable  ends.  In  the  first 
place,  they  are  chosen  to  give  the  child  an  abiUty  to  understand  his  en- 
vironment, and  to  come  into  a mastery  of  it  so  that  he  can  make  it  use- 
ful to  himself.  He  is  taught  arithmetic  in  order  that  he  may  divide  and 
conquer;  in  order  that  he  may  measure  the  things  and  forces  of  his  en- 
vironment, and  learn  how  to  adapt  one  set  of  them  to  control  and  utilize 
another.  He  is  taught  geography  in  order  that  he  may  understand  the 
causal  relations  existing  between  his  habitat,  or  the  place  m which  he 
lives,  and  other  places  as  well  as  other  systems  of  things  and  events  on  the 

earth.  . i • 

On  the  other  hand,  a second  reason  for  adopting  a branch  in  the 

course  of  study  is  that  it  develops  some  faculty  or  power  m the  child, 
and  gives  him  possession  of  himself  in  that  respect ; for  one  of  the  primary 
objects  is  to  develop  the  inteUect,  the  memory,  the  judgment,  or  the 
heart.  By  the  expression  heart  I mean  the  aggregate  of  affections  and 
inclinations  of  the  soul.  Some  discipline  in  school,  like  writing,  draw- 
ing, calisthenics,  or  manual  training,  finds  its  place  in  the  curriculum 
because  of  its  power  to  develop  the  will,  the  tenacity  of  purpose,  the 
ability  to  pay  long  and  continuous  attention  to  one  thing,  and  to  form 
habits  of  industry,  cleanliness,  regularity,  and  punctuality,  and  tlius 
acquire  those  virtues  which  make  a man  a better  citizen  than  he  could 
possibly  be  without  them  — which  make  his  service  of  more  value  to  his 
fellow-men  and  give  him  the  ability  to  get  a larger  share  of  service  from 
them  than  he  otherwise  could. 

Let  any  one  take  up  the  branches  of  the  common  school  in  the  light 
of  these  purposes,  and  he  will  find  that  those  branches,  as  they  are  in 
the  schools,  are  all  needed,  and  that  it  would  not  be  possible  to  make 
any  one  of  them  a substitute  for  any  other.  But  I wish  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  the  two  principles  or  purposes  which  I have  named 
as  the  reasons  which  have  determined  the  adoption  of  branches  of  study 


Copyright,  1901,  by  The  Forum  Publishing  Company. 


640  THE  PLACE  OF  GEOGRAPHY  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 

in  the  schools  not  only  are  not  antagonistic,  but  in  many  particulars 
agree  absolutely.  The  cultivation  of  the  intellect,  for  instance,  by  such 
studies  as  arithmetic,  grammar,  and  literature,  has  for  its  result  not  only 
the  unfolding  of  the  powers  of  the  individual  within  himself,  but  the 
enlargement  of  the  individual’s  sphere  of  influence  among  his  fellow- 
men,  making  him  useful  to  them  and  making  them  useful  to  him. 
The  boy  or  girl  who  understands  arithmetic  is  not  only  cultivated  or 
accomplished  to  that  extent,  but  by  so  much  the  more  useful. in  the 
family,  in  the  industrial  community,  and  in  the  nation,  and  by  so  much 
the  more  able  to  conquer  nature  for  his  or  her  own  benefit,  and  to  make 
useful  combinations  with  his  or  her  fellow-members  of  society  through- 
out the  world. 

So,  too,  in  the  matter  of  literature.  The  literature  of  the  English 
. language  or  of  any  other  reveals  human  nature  in  one  or  more  of  its 
national  manifestations.  Indeed,  each  literary  work  portrays  some  trait, 
or,  perhaps,  several  traits  or  phases,  of  human  nature.  The  student  of 
literature  comes  to  know  the  secrets  of  the  human  heart.  He  comes  to 
know  how  feelings  and  emotions  may  become  clear  ideas  and  convictions 
of  the  intellect,  and  then  how  they  become  translated  into  deeds,  habits, 
and  established  forms  of  living  such  as  appear  in  the  network  of  man- 
ners and  customs  which  forms  the  substance  of  the  daily  life  of  each 
man,  woman,  and  child.  Literature  and  mathematics  — literature 
the  first  and  mathematics  the  second  — form  important  branches  of  aU 
school  education.  Literature  is  the  first  and  most  important,  because,  in 
order  to  adjust  himself  to  society,  one  must  understand  the  motives,  de- 
sires, and  views  of  the  world  which  his  fellow-men  entertain.  It  is  im- 
possible for  a man  to  live  in  a community  where  he  has  no  insight  into 
or  knowledge  of  the  world-view  of  his  fellow-men,  and  does  not  Imow 
the  things  that  make  up  their  daily  consciousness.  In  all  nations,  tribes, 
and  peoples,  the  man  who  is  entirely  ignorant  of  the  prevailing  code  of 
manners  and  ethics  is  not  permitted  to  enjoy  the  freedom  of  civil  society, 
and,  perhaps,  is  not  even  permitted  to  live.  One  must  be  heedful  of  the 
fundamental  requirements  of  society,  such  as  the  respect  for  life  and 
property  and  the  respect  for  the  sense  of  decency  in  one’s  community, 
or  else  he  will  be  restrained  in  person  and  perhaps  deprived  of  life.  It 
is  well  to  remember  that  this  is  so  not  only  in  savage  and  half-civilized 
peoples,  but  also  in  the  highest  and  most  refined  and  in  the  freest  and 
most  liberty-loving  communities  in  the  world. 

This  is  the  ground  on  which  I pronounce  literatm-e  the  most  impor- 
tant of  aU  branches  of  school  education,  whether  it  be  in  China  where 


THE  PLACE  OF  GEOGRAPHY  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS.  541 


Confucius  and  Mencius  form  the  matter  of  school  education,  or  East  In- 
dia where  the  Vedas  and  the  great  heroic  poems  form  the  staple  of  the 
com’se  of  study,  or  among  Mohammedan  nations  where  the  Koran  is 
learned,  or  in  Greece  where  Homer’s  Iliad  and  Odyssey  were  the  school 
' - books,  or  in  the  schools  of  Boston,  New  York,  St.  Louis,  and  San  Eran- 
^--cisco,  where  English  literature  in  the  school  reading-books  does  its  v/ork 
^ in  enlightening  the  pupil  as  to  the  modes  of  thinking  and  the  motives 
• of  his  fellow-men. 

J'  After  literature  comes  geography,  meaning  by  the  term  what  is  usu- 
ally  understood  by  it  in  the  elementary  school.  After  geography  comes 
history,  first,  that  of  one’s  native  country,  secondly,  that  of  the  civiliza- 
tions  of  the  world ; after  history,  grammar,  as  a special  study  of  the 
^ forms  of  language.  In  the  grammatical  forms  are  revealed  the  methods 
of  the  action  of  the  intellect;  for  grammar  is  a sort  of  concrete  logic, 
revealing  not  only  the  methods  of  thinking,  but  also  the  methods  of  per- 
ception, and  the  methods  of  recollection,  which  form  the  laws  of  memory. 

These  branches,  which  throw  so  much  light  upon  the  individuality 
of  the  pupil  — upon  his  own  nature  and  upon  the  nature  of  the  institu- 
' tions  as  well  as  upon  the  structure  of  the  world  in  wliich  he  lives  — 
form  the  tools  of  thought  and  action ; they  are  the  machines,  the  instru- 
ments,  by  which  he  supplements  his  body ; they  are  the  organs  by  which 
he  energizes  upon  the  world  outside  of  him  and  by  which  he  makes  with 
his  fellows  combinations  useful  to  them  and  doubly  useful  to  himself. 

When  an  attack  is  made  upon  any  one  of  these  branches  of  study,  it 
should  cause  us  to  reflect  upon  the  individual  and  social  necessity  that 
V has  placed  it  in  the  curriculum.  An  attack  upon  geography,  for  instance, 
‘ should  cause  us  to  consider  for  a moment  what  one’s  education  would  be 
if  the  study  of  geography  were  entirely  omitted  in  the  elementary  school. 
Sufiicient  reflection  upon  the  inconveniences  which  would  arise  in  one’s 
practical  life  will  enable  us  to  form  a list  of  the  points  of  usefulness  to 
be  found  in  geography.  One  will  be  able  to  draw  up  a sort  of  rough 
inventory  of  what  the  child  gets  from  the  study  of  geography  for  a few 
years  in  his  early  youth. 

Let  us  for  the  moment  make  a list  of  the  important  items  which  the 
child  will  get  from  a superflcial  study  of  geography  in  the  elementary 
schools  under  what  would  be  admitted  to  be  a poor  quality  of  instruc- 
tion, namely  the  unaided  study  of  the  text-book,  the  text-book  being  of 
an  inadequate  pattern,  and  the  so-called  teaching  being  confined  chiefly 
to  hearing  the  words  of  the  book  repeated.  The  pupils  of  average  intel- 
lect will  acquire  some  understanding  of  the  main  topics  touched  upon; 


p'i'S^D 

i 


542  THE  PLACE  OF  GEOGRAPHY  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 

and  they  will  have  in  memory,  in  a more  or  less  digested  form,  some 
facts  connected  with  them  which  will  be  retained  throughout  their  lives. 
The  constant  use  of  certain  typical  facts,  familiarity  with  which  is  de- 
manded by  the  newspaper  and  magazine  literature  of  the  day,  and  which 
is  more  or  less  required  by  the  daily  gossip  over  national  and  interna- 
tional affairs,  keeps  the  memory  fresh  in  these  matters.  The  average 
child  will  carry  off  with  him  a pretty  vivid  idea  that  the  shape  of  the 
earth  is  round  ‘‘like  a ball  or  orange,”  or  like  the  moon  and  the  sun 
which  he  sees  every  day.  He  will  also  acquire  the  very  important  idea 
that  the  earth  is  one  of  the  bodies  which  move  around  the  sun,  although 
he  may  not  learn  the  technical  term  “planet.”  These  simple  ideas  carry 
with  them  a correction  of  mere  sensuous  observation  by  an  abstract  and 
deeply  scientific  train  of  thought.  One’s  sense-perception  does  not  avail 
to  convince  him  that  the  earth  is  round.  This  can  be  reached  only  by 
reasoning  on  the  logical  presuppositions  which  are  implied  to  make  the 
fact  before  him  possible.  But  once  attained,  a whole  system  of  inferences 
extending  throughout  the  life  of  the  individual,  from  the  idea  of  the 
earth’s  rotundity  and  its  revolutions,  will  be  initiated,  if  nothing  more  is 
learned  from  geography. 

In  the  next  place,  there  will  be  acquired  the  ideas  of  latitude  and 
longitude,  which  determine  with  mathematical  exactness  the  location  of 
any  place  with  reference  to  base  lines,  like  the  equator  or  the  first  merid- 
ian. The  pupil  will  certainly  learn  something  regarding  latitude  and 
longitude,  and  he  will  learn  a method,  the  only  method  by  which  geo- 
graphical descriptions  may  be  made  accurate.  Ho  matter  how  superfi- 
cial his  study  of  geography  may  be,  he  will  also  form  some  approximate 
ideas  of  the  latitude  and  longitude  of  many  given  places.  He  wiH  re- 
member, for  instance,  that  the  United  States  in  which  he  lives  is  in 
North  latitude,  and  that  most  of  his  country  is  in  West  longitude  as 
compared  with  the  meridian  of  Washington.  He  will  learn  that  nearly 
all  of  Europe  is  in  East  longitude  as  compared  with  the  meridian  of 
Greenwich. 

We  must  remember  that  these  general  superficial  notions  are  more 
important  than  any  more  specific  notions  which  follow  later.  It  is  of 
more  importance  to  the  individual  to  know  that  Brazil  is  in  South  lati- 
tude while  we  are  in  North  latitude,  than  to  know  that  the  mouth  of 
the  Amazon  is  on  the  equator,  and  that  the  capital  of  Brazil  is  about 
twenty -three  degrees  South.  For  ordinary  practical  thinking  the  gen- 
eralities of  geograpliy  are  exceedingly  important. 

Next  the  pupil  will  come  to  form  mental  images  of  the  terri- 


THE  PLACE  OF  GEOGRAPHY  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS.  643 


tones  that  are  occupied  by  states  and  nations.  First,  however,  he  will 
form  an  idea  of  the  contours  of  the  several  continents  and  of  the  great 
oceans  which  separate  those  continents.  Then  he  will  seek  to  learn  the 
location  on  those  continents  of  each  of  its  several  states  and  nations. 
He  cannot  help  acquiring  at  the  same  time  some  historic  adjuncts  to  his 
geographical  knowledge.  The  map  of  Great  Britain  will  call  up  in  his 
mind  much  that  he  has  heard  with  regard  to  the  relations  of  the  United 
States  to  that  country.  France,  Spain,  Italy,  Germany,  and  Eussia  will 
each  suggest  certain  unclassified  and  ill-digested  items  of  knowledge 
which  he  has  collected  from  hearsay  or  general  experience  regarding 
those  countries ; and  it  will  give  him  pleasure  to  be  able  to  reduce  to 
consistency  and  order  some  portion  of  the  chaotic  information  which  he 
already  possesses.  It  will  be  of  value  to  him  every  day  of  his  life  to 
have  some  notions  of  the  shapes,  boundaries,  and  general  positions  of 
the  States  of  his  own  country. 

Besides  these  there  is  another  class  of  geographical  categories  which 
relates  to  the  formation  and  modification  of  the  features  of  land  and 
water.  Even  the  poorest  geography  yet  made  deals  with  rivers,  and 
gives  information  regarding  their  sources  and  their  outlets,  as  well  as 
their  navigability  and  their  usefulness  in  furnishing  motive  power  for 
manufactures.  It  gives  information  regarding  lakes,  highlands,  low- 
lands, and  the  trend  of  mountain  chains. 

Two  objects  on  the  earth  especially  arouse  man’s  wonder  and  excite 
him  to  reflection,  namely,  the  monster  elevations  of  the  surface  of  the 
land,  which  we  call  mountains,  and  the  vast,  seemingly  unlimited,  ex- 
tension of  the  surface  of  the  ocean.  It  has  been  the  habit  of  geogra- 
phies for  two  or  three  generations  to  explain  the  elevation  of  mountain 
chains  by  the  molten  condition  of  the  elements  in  the  interior  of  the 
earth.  Once  the  elevations  were  supposed  to  be  caused  by  volcanic 
agencies ; but  now,  perhaps,  the  general  opinion  is  that  the  gradual  cool- 
ing with  the  consequent  contraction  of  the  earth’s  crust  produces  wrinkles 
on  a large  scale,  wrinkles  large  enough  to  form  the  mountain  systems  of 
the  Alps  or  of  the  Himalayas.  No  pupil  of  average  intelligence  who  has 
studied  geography  in  school  at  any  time  during  the  last  sixty  or  seventy 
years  has  escaped  forming  some  idea  regarding  the  prodigious  forces  of 
nature  which  lift  up  the  mountains.  Nor  has  any  one  within  the  last 
fifty  years  or  more  escaped  the  important  geological  idea  of  the  wearing 
down  of  the  mountains  and  hills  by  the  constant  effect  of  rain  and  the 
escape  of  water  carrying  a load  of  solid  matter  to  the  sea  by  brooks 
and  rivers.  In  other  words,  the  average  pupil  has  formed  some  idea  of 


144  THE  PLACE  OF  GEOGRAPHY  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 


IX 


the  meteorological  process  by  which  water  evaporates  and  the  air,  filled 
with  moisture,  is  submitted  to  the  chilling  effect  of  high  altitudes,  which 
condenses  the  water  again  either  into  fogs  or  rain  clouds,  so  that  it  comes 
down  to  the  ocean  again,  bearing  with  it  on  its  way  the  detritus  of  the 
rocks  and  soil. 

This  thought  of  the  formation  of  elements  of  difference  in  the  land 
surface  — that  is  to  say,  the  formation  of  the  varieties  of  high  and  low, 
warm  and  cold,  wet  and  dry,  elements  — and  of  the  process  by  which 
these  differences  are  gradually  removed  or  eliminated  is  a most  impor- 
tant idea,  and  is  likely  to  be  required  for  use  by  the  average  individual 
many  times  in  the  course  of  a year,  or  perhaps  in  a single  week.  This 
geographical  fact  or  principle  is  a tool  of  thought,  an  instrument  with 
which  we  scientifically  understand  and  explain  thousands  and  thousands 
of  phenomena  which  come  under  observation. 

Climate  and  the  dependence  upon  it  of  the  fertility  of  the  soil  can- 
not escape  the  attention  of  the  superficial  student  of  geography.  He 
gets  typical  facts,  also,  in  regard  to  heat  and  cold.  He  comes  to  under- 
stand the  reason  for  the  distribution  of  heat  as  found  in  the  continually 
varying  inclination  of  the  surface  of  the  earth  toward  the  sun  at  different 
times  of  the  year  and  at  different  latitudes.  He  understands  also  how 
altitude  above  sea-level  affects  the  temperature.  Let  an  explanation  be 
given  in  any  particular  case  and  it  is  in  the  nature  of  the  human  mind  to 
generalize  it,  if  occasion  offers.  Occasion  is  constantly  offering  in  a coun- 
try where  the  people  as  a people  are  eye-minded  and  read  the  daily  news- 
papers, as  well  as  ear-minded  and  listen  to  the  gossip  of  their  fellows. 

A more  important  series  of  observations  is  initiated  by  the  superficial 
study  of  geography  of  which  we  are  speaking.  For  the  average  pupil 
notes  with  interest  the  fact  that  there  is  diversity  of  labor  over  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth ; that  the  people  of  one  section  produce  one  series  of 
agricultural  or  mineral  products,  and  those  of  another  a different  series. 
He  learns,  too,  that  commerce  can  equalize  these  productions,  taking  the 
surplus  of  production  from  one  place  to  the  other  place  that  needs  it. 
He  learns  that  the  division  of  labor,  therefore,  assisted  by  commerce, 
enables  each  person  to  enjoy  the  productions  of  all  his  fellow-men.  He 
learns  how  the  raw  materials  produced  by  agriculture  and  mining  are 
changed  by  manufactures  into  goods  which  are  of  far  more  value  than  the 
raw  materials.  He  notes  with  some  wonder  and  perhaps  some  incredulity 
the  fact  that  commerce  creates  values  by  converting  natural  productions 
which  were  of  no  use  or  value  where  they  were,  into  articles  of  very  great 
use  and  value  to  the  people  of  another  country.  The  surplus  vegetable 


THE  PLACE  OF  GEOGRAPHY  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS.  545 


productions  of  most  of  the  tropical  regions  are  of  no  use  or  value  where 
they  are.  Commerce,  therefore,  performs  a miracle  by  turning  things 
into  'property  \ carrying  them  from  where  they  are  worthless  to  where 
they  are  valuable.  This  is  the  alchemy  of  the  social  combination  of 
, man  with  men  — the  social  whole  — and  it  is  exceedingly  important 
that  the  child  shall  get  into  his  mind  quite  early  in  his  life  some  typi- 
cal facts  in  regard  to  this  matter,  and  that  he  shall  apply  the  typical 
facts  in  explaining  the  phenomena  of  his  experience. 

Geography  is  not  only  a science  of  the  formation  and  modification 
of  dififerent  forms  or  features  of  land  and  water,  but  it  is  more  especially 
an  introduction  to  the  elements  of  sociology.  All  the  text-books  of 
geography  speak  about  the  occupations  of  man,  and  they  show  more  or 
less  clearly  the  reasons  for  the  diversity  of  human  industry.  Moreover, 
all  geographies  treat  of  certain  elementary  ideas  of  anthropology.  They 
treat  of  the  different  races  of  men  and  of  their  physical  and  mental 
characteristics.  It  is  of  still  greater  interest  that  these  geographical 
treatises  describe  important  facts  regarding  the  different  stages  of  civili- 
zation— savage,  barbarous,  civilized,  and  enlightened  — treat  of  the 
costumes  worn,  and  give  a few  glimpses  at  social  habits;  pictorial  illus- 
trations of  the  architecture  of  the  cities  and  villages,  or  of  typical  speci- 
mens of  the  vehicles  for  travel ; facts  regarding  the  agricultural  products 
raised ; cuts  showing  the  appearance  of  plants  and  animals  and  natural 
cmiosities,  such  as  waterfalls,  ravines,  canons,  glaciers,  etc. 

The  average  child  gets  some  notion  of  the  government  of  the  several  / 
countries,  and  makes  some  comparison  between  the  freedom  of  individ- 
uality encouraged  under  one  and  another  of  the  different  forms  of  gov- 
ernment. He  loves  to  hear  of  countries  which  allow  the  citizen  an  op- 
portunity for  initiative  just  as  his  own  country  does.  Each  new  item 
regarding  government,  style  of  clothing,  or  peculiarities  of  products, 
helps  the  pupil  to  remember  the  other  items  with  which  it  is  connected. 
Particularly  interesting  to  the  child  are  the  pictures  of  the  wild  animals 
— the  carnivorous  beasts,  the  reptiles,  and  the  birds  — and  these  items 
especially  assist  his  memory  of  the  drier,  but  more  essential,  facts  of 
geography.  Even  the  old-fashioned  geography  gives  items  regarding 
the  religious  beliefs  of  the  peoples  of  the  different  countries.  Eeligion 
is  the  underlying  principle  of  civilization.  Thus  we  have  a repertoire 
of  the  main  points  of  sociology,  namely,  religious  beliefs,  forms  of  gov- 
ernment, industrial  occupations,  races,  costumes,  and,  finally,  what  each 
nation  puts  into  the  market  of  the  world  from  its  surplus  for  exchange 
with  other  peoples,  and  wliat  it  receives  in  return. 

35 


54:6  THE  PLACE  OF  GEOGRAPHY  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 

There  certainly  is  nothing  of  more  importance  that  the  school  gives 
the  child  — next  to  literature  with  its  revelation  of  the  feelings  and 
thoughts  of  his  fellows  — than  this  matter  of  the  division  of  labor  and 
the  need  of  each  population  on  the  face  of  the  earth  for  the  other  popu- 
lations who  contribute  to  it  certain  necessaries  of  life.  Is  there  any- 
thing more  productive  of  kindly  and  hopeful  feelings  toward  one’s  fel- 
low-men, living  under  different  governments  and  separated  by  vast 
distances,  than  this  study,  which  finds  each  useful  to  the  industrial 
whole? 

II.  In  geography  the  pupil  comes  into  contact  with  these  substantial 
facts  that  lie  outside  of  his  daily  experience  and  yet  are  necessary  to 
him  for  explanation  of  it.  Good  instruction  in  the  school  will,  of 
course,  draw  constantly  on  the  daily  experience  of  the  pupil  in  order  to 
explain  the  colossal  facts  which  are  not  to  be  found  in  his  neighborhood. 
The  small  things  and  phenomena  which  he  sees  every  day  about  his 
habitat  enable  him  to  learn  to  understand  the  greater  phenomena  which 
are  of  historical  importance.  He  sees,  for  example,  every  day  the  effect 
of  the  last  rain-freshet  in  wearing  away  the  soil  of  the  road  on  the  hill- 
side, and  it  furnishes  the  small  fact  by  which  he  interprets  the  large 
fact  of  the  wearing  away  of  the  Niagara  gorge. 

It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  it  is  a mistake  to  send  the  child 
to  the  geographical  investigation  of  his  neighborhood  before  he  has  heard 
anything  about  the  great  facts  of  the  world.  He  should  be  put  on  the  in- 
vestigation of  his  habitat  in  connection  with  the  gi'eat  facts  which  are 
mentioned  in  the  geography.  One  approaches  the  explanation  of  great 
facts  through  little  facts,  but  he  should  learn  as  quickly  as  possible  to 
see  the  latter  on  the  background  of  the  former;  hence,  they  should  be 
taught  together.  If  this  is  so,  it  is  certainly  a mistake  to  keep  pupils 
for  many  weeks,  or  even  many  days,  upon  the  study  of  their  neighbor- 
hoods before  taking  up  the  colossal  facts  which  are  of  world-importance. 

Above  all  I should  wish  to  call  to  mind  again,  as  the  central  reason 
for  its  place  in  the  curriculum,  the  general  value  of  geography  in  giving 
the  pupil  an  insight  into  natural  causes.  In  early  periods  of  the  history 
of  mankind,  and  among  all  savage  peoples  that  are  contemporary  with 
us,  the  facts  of  nature  are  explained  by  animism,  that  is  to  say,  by  the 
interference  of  evil  spirits.  A vast  network  of  superstition  covers  the 
face  of  nature  from  the  gaze  of  the  savage.  But  the  child  who  begins 
to  study  geography  begins  to  find  one  fact  behind  another  fact.  He 
learns  forces,  and  how  forces  make  things,  and  how  forces  modify 
things.  His  knowledge  constantly  grows  from  the  symbolic,  which 


THE  PLACE  OF  GEOGRAPHY  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS.  547 


ignores  the  causal  nexus,  over  to  the  scientific  and  prosaic  view  which 
comprehends  the  rationale  of  phenomena. 

A fact  as  regarded  by  the  infantile  mind  is  a small  matter  compared 
with  the  same  fact  as  thought  by  the  scientific  mind;  for  the  fact  is 
at  first  a little  fragment  broken  off  from  a long  chain  of  causal  action  by 
the  feeble  mind  of  infant  or  savage.  But  experience  keeps  making  addi- 
tions to  the  fact  before  and  after  it.  It  places  links  of  causation  before 
it  and  links  of  effect  after  it,  and  thus  it  grows  to  be  a big  fact. 

Now  the  child  who  can  grasp  only  so  small  a piece  of  fact,  or  in 
other  words,  whose  facts  are  so  small  in  compass,  goes  by  external  ap- 
pearance and  does  not  see  the  essential  nature  of  the  fact.  The  child 
sees  the  gun  with  which  his  father  shoots.  He  thinks  that  a stick  cut 
out  in  the  external  resemblance  of  a gun  will  do  what  the  gim  does. 
The  essential  things  about  the  gun  are  the  steel  tube,  the  powder  and 
shot,  the  method  of  exploding  the  powder,  etc.  The  child’s  fact  con- 
tains none  of  these  items.  His  fact  is  a symbolic  fact,  rather  than  a 
real  fact.  We  see  that  to  get  at  a reality  we  must  have  the  chain  of 
causality.  Play  undertakes  to  reproduce  the  external  semblance  of  the 
fact  without  the  causal  chain  that  makes  the  essential  element  in  it. 
The  farmer  mows  with  a steel  scythe  and  cuts  grass.  The  child  mows 
with  a wooden  scythe  and  cuts  no  grass.  He  merely  “ makes  believe  ” 
to  cut  grass. 

To  illustrate  this  process  of  growth  from  symbolic  to  prosaic  reality, 
consider  the  chain  of  causality  involved  in  thinking  the  familiar  object 
bread.  This  illustration  is  used  by  Professor  Noir^.  Going  backward 
toward  the  origin  of  bread,  we  have  the  successive  steps  of  baking; 
kneading  the  dough ; mixing  the  meal  or  flour  with  yeast,  lard,  butter, 
and  other  ingredients ; the  grinding  of  the  grain  and  sifting  of  the  meal ; 
the  harvesting  of  the  grain,  with  all  its  details  of  cutting,  binding 
sheaves,  threshing,  etc. ; the  earlier  processes  of  ploughing,  harrowing, 
sowing  the  grain;  and  its  growth  dependent  on  rain  and  sunshine. 
Each  of  these  links  in  the  chain  has  side  relations  to  other  chains  of 
causality.  For  example,  the  yeast  put  into  the  bread  connects  it  with 
hops  or  some  other  ferment  or  effervescent ; the  lard  connects  bread  with 
the  series  of  ideas  involved  in  pork  raising ; the  salt,  with  salt  manufac- 
ture ; the  baking,  with  the  structure  of  the  oven  and  the  fuel.  So  long 
as  anything  is  not  yet  understood,  the  word  expressing  it  is  a partially 
blind  symbol. 

The  retrograde  series  toward  the  origin  is  matched  by  a progressive 
series  toward  the  future  use  of  the  bread.  There  are  the  preparation  for 


548  THE  PLACE  OF  GEOGRAPHY  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 

the  table,  the  set  meals,  the  eating  and  digestion,  the  sustenance  of  life, 
the  strength  acquired,  the  work  accomplished  by  means  of  it,  etc.  Th© 
omission  of  the  causal  nexus  characterizes  symbolic  thinking  in  the 
sense  of  that  word  as  I employ  it  here.  It  is  true  that  we  commonly 
use  the  word  ‘‘  symbolic  ” in  a more  restricted  sense,  namely,  the  use  of 
the  material  object  to  represent  the  invisible  spiritual  object. 

The  child  begins  by  perceiving  sense  objects  and  mimics  them  in 
play.  Gradually  he  discovers  their  chains  of  causality.  Each  object 
is  in  a chain  of  causality ; it  is  derived  from  something  else,  and,  when 
it  changes,  it  passes  on  into  something  else.  The  child  learns  to  think 
more  and  more  adequately  the  object  which  he  sees.  He  learns  to  add 
to  it  a larger  and  larger  extent  of  the  chain  of  causality  that  belongs  to  it. 

III.  Geography,  as  it  is  understood  by  the  geographical  societies,  has 
a narrower  signification  than  geography  as  introduced  into  the  elementary 
school.  It  is  used  by  the  former  to  indicate  primarily  the  production 
of  the  elements  of  difference  on  the  earth’s  surface — differences  of  land, 
water,  and  climate — the  differences  that  arise  from  the  upheaval  of  land 
and  from  the  erosion  of  land  and  its  transference  to  the  ocean,  and  also 
the  differences  that  arise  by  the  interaction  of  land  and  water,  such  as 
rivers,  lakes,  bays,  straits,  seas,  and  oceans.  Besides  the  production  of 
such  elements  of  difference,  geography  includes  for  the  scientific  geog- 
rapher the  effects  or  influences  that  the  peculiarities  of  the  earth’s  surface 
have  upon  the  life  of  man;  such,  for  example,  as  relate  to  food  and 
clothing,  their  need  and  their  supply,  and  such  as  are  calculated  in  the 
course  of  ages  to  affect  his  physique  and  produce  a distinct  race  of  men, 
black,  yellow,  red,  or  white.  In  other  words,  the  scientiflc  geographer, 
as  a specialist,  includes  anthropology  with  his  study  of  the  earth-surface 
and  of  its  plants  and  animals. 

But  geography  in  the  elementary  school  flnds  it  necessary  to  go  far- 
ther and  include  a study  of  the  elements  of  civilization  in  so  far  as  they 
are  matters  that  characterize  localities.  The  geographical  distribution 
of  civilization  is,  in  fact,  of  the  first  importance  to  the  child,  the  youth 
and  the  man,  and  hence  has  come  to  the  front  in  all  teaching  of  geog- 
raphy, from  that  of  the  early  Greeks,  who  taught  the  second  book  of 
Homer’s  Iliad  and  made  the  children  learn  the  localities  of  the  Grecian 
tribes,  down  to  the  latest  teaching  of  geography,  which  spends  most  of  its 
time  on  the  habitats  of  three  or  four  leading  nations. 

Geogmphy  in  the  elementary  school,  therefore,  deals  much  with  the 
location  and  gi’owth  of  cities — the  transformations  of  natm'e  by  man  for 
his  purposes.  Fust  he  transforms  nature  for  dwelling  purposes,  by  the 


THE  PLACE  OP  GEOGRAPHY  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS.  549 


building  of  cities,  villages,  and  farm  houses ; secondly,  he  transforms  it 
for  the  purpose  of  intercommunication  by  making  roads,  bridges,  tun- 
nels, viaducts,  railways,  and  canals;  and,  thiixily,  he  transforms  land  by 
adapting  it  to  crops,  by  fencing,  by  draining,  by  cultivation,  by  irriga- 
tion, and  by  connecting  it  with  the  world  market  by  internal  and  for- 
eign commerce.  In  other  words,  school  geography  deals  not  only  with 
the  geographical  features  in  which  natural  conditions  are  seen  to  affect 
“the  physical  character  of  man,”  but  also  with  the  transformations  which 
man  makes  upon  nature  with  his  cities,  railways,  canals,  and  agriculture. 

By  reason  of  this  difference  in  definitions,  the  school  geography  is 
likely  to  be  hindered  if  it  adopts  the  literatme  of  the  geographical  society 
without  some  modification.  The  region  of  the  North  Pole  is  of  as  much 
interest  geographically  as  the  region  about  New  York,  or  London,  or 
Paris,  or  any  great  centre  of  civilization.  But  the  child  in  the  school 
ought  to  be  interested  chiefly  in  the  geographical  centres  of  population. 
The  centres  that  are  connected  with  the  history  of  great  events  are  also, 
other  things  being  equal,  of  more  importance  than  the  territory  that  has 
not  yet  been  made  the  theatre  of  civilization. 

The  emphasis  which  school  geography  lays  upon  the  connection  of 
places  with  human  history  suggests  an  educational  heresy  that  infects 
to  some  extent  the  pedagogy  of  this  branch  of  study.  The  votaries  of 
geography  sometimes  become  so  much  interested  in  the  physical  process 
of  action  and  reaction  in  earth,  air,  fire,  and  water,  that  they  turn  away 
in  disgust  from  the  transformation  which  man  has  made  upon  the  earth’s 
surface,  and  especially  from  that  part  of  geography  which  relates  to  the 
lines  and  boundaries  of  political  divisions.  They  get  so  much  respect 
for  the  inanimate  forces  of  nature  that  to  them  the  rational  forces  of 
man  seem  arbitrary  and  unworthy  of  serious  attention.  This  gives  rise 
to  the  literature  of  geography  for  geography’s  sake  that  reminds  one  of 
those  writings  that  are  said  to  belong  to  poetry  for  poetry’s  sake. 

Moreover,  there  is  a tendency  on  the  part  even  of  those  who  have 
given  most  attention  to  the  physical  elements  and  forces  to  overrate 
their  influence  upon  civilization.  They  seek  to  explain,  as  did  Mr. 
Buckle,  the  development  of  the  institutions  of  society  by  climate,  fer- 
tility of  sod,  picturesque  scenery,  earthquakes,  and  such  matters  which 
are  thought  to  have  a controlling  effect  in  determining  the  character  of 
the  populations  of  countries. 

This  view  makes  geography  in  some  sense  a substitute  for  history. 
If  historic  development  is  an  effect  of  geographic  conditions  and  forces, 
it  is,  of  course,  a mist^e  to  consider  history  an  evolution  proceeding 


550  THE  PLACE  OF  GEOGRAPHY  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 


through  a growing  sense  of  the  ideal  of  freedom,  and  its  realization  in 
theory  and  practice.  The  great  German,  who  said  that  the  world-history 
is  the  progress  of  man  into  consciousness  of  freedom,  must  have  been 
mistaken.  The  evolution  of  national  ideas,  begiuning  with  Eastern 
Asia,  where  the  state  is  everything  and  the  individual  next  to  nothing, 
moving  westward  to  the  nations  of  Europe  and  America,  where  the  state 
is  great  in  proportion  to  the  greatness  of  its  individuals  — this  progress 
certainly  must  be  an  illusion  because  it  cannot  be  explained  from  geog- 
raphy. This  houleversement  of  ideas  on  the  part  of  enthusiasts  in  the 
study  of  physical  processes  is  enough  to  prove  that  geography  is  not  a 
good  substitute  for  history. 

History  shows  the  inward  development  of  social  and  political  ideas 
and  their  realization  in  institutions.  The  geographical  conditions  fur- 
nish no  more  than  the  mode  of  manifestation.  Man  reacts  against  nature 
and  transforms  it  into  an  instrument  of  expression  and  a means  of  real- 
izing his  rational  self.  Geography  does  not  deal  with  the  evolution  of 
human  freedom,  except  in  so  far  as  it  shows  the  results  of  that  freedom 
in  the  modifications  which  man  has  made  to  adapt  nature  to  his  pm'- 
poses.  The  cold  freezes  the  water  into  snow,  but  it  does  not  make  the 
Eskimo’s  snow  hut.  The  river  divides  the  populations  of  a country,  but 
it  does  not  make  the  bridge,  the  ferry,  and  the  tunnel  that  unite  them. 

Specialization  in  science  leads  to  the  division  of  aggregates  of  knowl- 
edge into  narrow  fields  for  closer  observation.  This  is  aU  right.  But 
in  the  course  of  study  for  the  common  school  it  is  proper  and  necessary 
that  the  human  interest  should  always  be  kept  somewhat  in  ^advance  of 
the  physical.  W.  T.  Harris. 


